PROTECTIVE
by FrejaDK
Summary: A murder case leads Detective Callie Torres to trauma doctor Arizona Robbin's floor at Seattle Grace Hospital. At first the doctor isn't interested in neither the murder case nor the Detective, but that all changes when they share a life-changing experience.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

The ER had been quiet for most of the night which was unusual for a Saturday.

Trauma doctor Arizona Robbins was standing at the nurses' station with a couple of other doctors.

"It's so damn quiet tonight" one of the young male doctors by the name Karev said. He sounded slightly bored.

"Don't say that!" Arizona whined and hit him on the shoulder "You're gonna jinx it"

She was in a bad mood. It had been a bad year to say the least. Her girlfriend of 3 years had cheated on her which had resulted in months of Arizona going back and forth about wanting to be with Joann or not. She'd only recently come to the realization that she'd been a pushover, and that Joann was anything but good to and for her. They'd made a final split, and Arizona had moved out and into her friend Mark's place until she could find a place of her own.

She felt lost, and even though Joann hadn't exactly provided her with a sense of security in the relationship, she still missed her. And that made her mad. Mad at herself, and somehow mad at the world. She felt it. Her colleagues felt it. And today was a bad day. After a month of no contact Joann had suddenly sent her a message asking for everything back. Gifts, jewelry, photographs. As if she was trying to erase, to forget the last three years. Arizona somehow wanted to forget too. Looking back she knew that she more often than not had been worried whenever Joann was out on the town without her, and that she probably didn't love Joann as much as she simply liked the idea of having someone. And she had a really hard time accepting that Joann - the one who cheated - was now trying to call the shots on how the final stage of the breakup would happen.

She wasn't going to answer the message until she'd had some time to think. There wouldn't be time to think now though, because less than 5 seconds after Karev jinxed their night, a group of paramedics barged through the door with a man on a gurney. He had been shot in the stomach and was bleeding profusely.

The team of doctors immediately rushed him into an OR and started working on him. It took hours, but they saved him, and he was then brought to an IC room where he was to be kept under until he was completely stable.

Arizona was in the hall, jotting down her last notes regarding the case when she heard someone ask a nurse about her patient somewhere down the hall. She'd noticed a police officer hanging out in front of the OR and she figured it was because the patient had come in with gunshot wounds. There was often police present in the hospital, so she hadn't though much of it.

Then she suddenly felt a presence behind her. She didn't turn around and didn't lift her head even when she felt the presence move to her side. She was too busy getting the last of the medical information from the surgery down in the file.

"We need to speak to Sam Banner" a voice said.

"You can't. He's recovering" Arizona didn't look up from the file.

"No, you don't understand. We _really_ need to speak to him"

Arizona looked up and saw a brunette showing her a police badge.

"Yeah, that's not happening" the blonde simply answered and returned to her file.

"Doctor...?" the other woman started.

"Robbins"

"Doctor Robbins, I'm detective Torres. We're investigating a case on multiple homicides, and Sam Banner is a suspect. We _need_ to interrogate him. Now"

Arizona finally stopped what she was doing, put down the pen, and looked up at the woman in front of her. She'd often been interrupted by police officers who thought they could barge in and get unlimited time with near death patients. She understood that they wanted to solve cases, but she hated how entitled they felt. And she never wanted to know what her patients were being accused of, simply because she wanted to focus on being their doctor, saving their lives no matter what they had done. She had taken an oath, and she took it very serious. Besides, even if she was one of the best trauma doctors in the country, she wouldn't be able to make Sam Banner well enough to be able to talk to the police right then. He was in bad shape.

"Mr. Banner was hit by 5 bullets, three of which went through his spleen and liver, and punctured a lung. He barely pulled through. And now he will spend a few highly sedated days here in this hospital, under my care, without the disturbance of _anyone_ "

Arizona was tired. And she was not in the mood to argue with someone who thought that a police badge would get them any- or everywhere.

"Now, if you want to question my medical assessment, please take it up with my boss" she then said, handed the file to a nurse, and started walking away.

"Doctor Robbins!" the detective said and grabbed the blonde's arm. The action made the doctor turn around with fire in her eyes "Sam Banner has killed 5 people!"

"That may very well be, but right now, he is MY patient, and that means that you will wait until I goddamn tell you that you can see him. Now back the fuck off!" Arizona hissed, and roughly pulled her arm out of the detective's grip.

Her words and action made the detective let go of a sigh and put up her hands in defeat.

"Johnny," she said directed at the police officer behind her and without breaking eye contact with Arizona "make sure to keep the squad here. I want all eyes on the door to that room. We'll be back tomorrow"

The police officer received the orders, and then the detective turned around, and left Arizona standing in the hall, boiling with rage. It had been a bad day, and now it had officially hit rock bottom. She knew she had been a bit to stand-offish with the detective, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel extremely protective of her patient. It was lodged in her that she had to protect her patient's best health interests no matter what.

Next day Arizona walked into the hospital with her head held high. She hadn't forgotten about what had happened the day before, but she felt somehow more relaxed. She'd gotten a good night's sleep and had managed to push the thought of Joann's message back in her mind. She even managed a small smile at some residents as she put her clothes into her locker in the changing room.

5 minutes later she stopped in her tracks as she spotted detective Torres standing at the nurses' station talking to three police officers.

Arizona pushed herself up against the wall of the hall in hopes that they wouldn't see her. She didn't know why, but she needed to collect herself before being ready to meet the detective and the officers again.

As she stood there she studied detective Torres. The woman was beautiful. Tall, tanned, curvy, and she had the most amazing almost black wavy hair. She was probably the most beautiful latina Arizona had ever laid eyes on. And the suit she was wearing, the leather strap of her gun holster that were barely visible underneath her blazer and her assertiveness was pretty hot.

Arizona hadn't had eyes for anyone but Joann for years, but during the last few months of being single she had been surprised with how much she'd looked at and wondered about other women. She took it as a sign that the breakup was meant to have happened at some point. And she took comfort in the fact that even though she'd been cheated on, she wasn't completely emotionally and sexually wrecked. She was still able to feel attraction.

She took a deep breath, and then she slowly walked over to detective Torres.

"Doctor Robbins" the latina said with firmness but enthusiasm "Good to see you. We were just discussing when would be a good time to start interrogating Sam Banner"

Arizona blinked.

"Come with me" the blonde said and started walking down the hall. The detective looked around questioningly, and then followed the doctor.

Arizona stopped in front of a large window, covered by a curtain.

"Mr. Banner is in no condition to talk to you" she simply said and pulled the curtain aside to let the detective look through the window.

On the other side of the window was an IC room with a hospital bed in the middle. And in the bed was Sam Banner. His eyes were closed, and he had tubes and wires going in and out of every possible place.

"The nurse..." Arizona continued, referring to the nurse who was right then holding a large syringe to a tube coming out of Sam Banner's abdominal region "...is emptying his bowel for excess fluids that keep collecting in the affected areas"

The detective swallowed.

"We're keeping him asleep for that part. Among other things" the doctor then concluded dryly.

"When...uh...when do you think he'll be...I mean, an estimate?"

"A week"

"A week?!"

"At least" Arizona nodded.

"Shit!"

Arizona raised her eye brows at the detective.

"Please, detective. This is a hospital"

Detective Torres gave her a defying look and then stepped very close to the doctor. The slight height difference and the growling of the detective's words made Arizona feel slightly awkward.

"There is a woman out there. Caught somewhere. And we can't find her unless we talk to this man. So 'shit' is the word I decide to use. Now, I expect to be informed of any change exactly when they happen. When he wakes up, I need to know immediately"

The detective didn't get an answer, which was answer enough. She nodded at Arizona, turned around and left.

And so the next few days passed. There was a constant police presence around the IC room, and every day Arizona had to answer questions from the detective. It was annoying, but it gave Arizona something besides Joann to think about.

Five days after Sam Banner arrived, Arizona was having lunch with Mark in the hospital cafeteria.

Arizona was going on and on about how annoying it was to constantly answer questions about Sam Banner, and how she felt her work was being disturbed by detective Torres' mere presence in the hospital. Mark didn't seem to think the police presence was as big a deal as Arizona did.

"If the guy is a killer, I think it's pretty cool that they take it this serious. They're looking for a woman, you know. A teenager" he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I know. And I agree. It's just…I…"

"You're a bit pissed off these days and you're taking it out on detective Torres"

"Wha…"

"I know you Robbins. And seriously, it's time you pack away the venom. Towards people here. And towards the detective and her guys. She's just doing her job. Besides, your venom doesn't really work as intended when you spend half the time checking out her ass"

"I do not!"

"You do! Don't try to deny it or I'll kick you out of my apartment"

"I hate you" the blonde retorted in mock seriousness.

"Well, I love you" he said and got out of his seat "See you tonight. You're cooking"


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Saturday night Arizona decided to let lose a bit and go out with some friends. She dreaded meeting Joann but not enough to stay at home. It was time to move on.

She was having fun with her friends in a gay club called "The Empire" and enjoying how crowded and loud the place was. It made her feel alive.

At some point she ventured through the crowd to the bar to get a drink, and as she was waiting to get the attention of the bartender, she heard a familiar voice.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the unbreakable doctor Robbins"

Arizona turned around and met detective Torres' dark eyes. It completely caught her by surprise. The detective was wearing a figure hugging black dress and some really sexy heels. She looked less 'police business' and more 'sex on legs' than Arizona could have ever imagined. And she was in a gay club. Was she gay?

The blonde opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out.

"Shouldn't you be busy guarding your patients?" the detective then said while signaling to the bartender that she wanted a beer.

Her words kicked the doctor's mind into gear.

"Shouldn't you be busy waving your badge around? I'm sure the ladies just _loooove_ that"

"They do actually" the Latina said with a smirk, got her drink from the bartender, turned around and walked back to her group of friends.

Arizona watched as the detective made her way through the crowd. And she kept watching her all night; with her posse, on the dance floor, at the bar. And at the end of the night she also saw Torres walking out the door, holding the hand of a woman in a white dress.

Arizona shook her head at herself. Torres was gay – or at least bisexual. And she was extremely hot. And Arizona had been an asshole simply because she felt like shit about her own situation. Right then she decided to let Joann – and everything the woman had been and done – go.

She said goodnight to her friends and walked outside. She took a few steps up the street, trying to spot a taxi when she heard a muffled sound coming from the alley next to the club. She turned around and took a step into the darkness, waiting for her eyes to get used to the lack of light.

And that's when she realized that detective Torres hadn't gone home with the woman in the white dress. She had simply taken her outside.

100 feet into the alley was the detective, standing behind the woman in white, who had her ass pressed up against the detective's core.

The woman's dress was pulled up, and Torres' right arm was wrapped around her midsection and her hand down the woman's panties while her left hand was cupping one of the woman's breasts. What Torres was doing was hurried and rough, and Arizona was frozen to the spot, her mind not able to focus on anything but how passionate it looked and how good the woman in the white dress felt to be whimpering the way she did.

It wasn't until the woman orgasmed with a loud moan, that Arizona finally managed to get her feet to carry her out of the alley and into a taxi. She was hoping with everything she had that the detective hadn't seen her as she stepped out into the light of the street.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

The next day everything was chaos at the hospital. Arizona came to work tired but quickly had to pick herself up. A school bus had collided with a large van, sending kids to the hospital ORs faster that the doctors could treat them.

People were running everywhere, gathering supplies, preparing makeshift operating areas, and on-call doctors were pouring through the doors to help out.

Nobody noticed that Sam Banner had woken up. And in the chaos of casualties, blood and desperate parents he walked out of the building as if he was as innocent as the children Arizona Robbins was operating on.

It wasn't until at least an hour later that someone alarmed the guards and the police officers who had been asked to move to another floor in the morning to not be in the way.

Detective Torres arrived less than 20 minutes later. And she was furious.

"He ran" a police officer told her in a meek voice.

"What?!"

"He…he up and left"

"How the fuck is that even possible?! Where the hell were you?!"

"There was…" another officer started "…a lot going on"

Torres looked over at Arizona who was standing by the nurses' station with a group of doctors, all in bloody gowns, looking not ashamed, but sorry. And then the detective stepped into full search mode.

"Get the surveillance tapes. I need to know when he left and in which direction he went. Close off the room and get Milton and the team in there. Question everybody. Everybody!"

The police officers started moving around quickly. Phone calls were being made, and within seconds Sam Banner's IC room was sealed off with police tape.

The doctors were permitted to leave the floor and Arizona didn't need to be told twice. She hurried down the hall and locked herself in an on-call room, sat down, and took what felt like a million deep breaths before she left the room again. She now needed all the strength she had to focus on the victims of the school bus accident.

Next day the hospital was still swarmed with police officers, and Arizona tried her best to avoid detective Torres. She didn't actually know if the detective wanted to talk to her, but just in case she did, Arizona wanted to not be around. So the blonde buried herself in surgeries. Her tactics worked until late in the afternoon when she rounded a corner and quite literally bumped into detective Torres.

She gasped at the impact, and then she felt the scent of the detective's perfume wrap itself around her.

"Doctor Robbins" the detective said without much emotion "We're leaving now. I hope you find everything in satisfying order. If not, let me know"

"Uhm…are you...going to find him?" Arizona asked, lacking anything else to say.

"Doctor Robbins. He's done horrible things. And he's not alone. The only positive thing to come out of this is some information we got off one of the surveillance cameras. A van. It's not a strong lead, but it's a lead. Eventually we will find him"

Arizona nodded slowly. She was trying to push thoughts of the detective in the alley back in her mind and concentrate on what the Latina was saying, but it was hard.

"This is a preliminary report on Banner's stay here. Can I ask you to pass it on to the hospital chief?"

The detective handed her a folder and Arizona took it, reading the first few phrases and then seeing the detective's signature at the bottom.

"Calliope…?" she couldn't help but say. The name somehow fit incredibly well with the brunette.

"Callie, actually" the detective said, gave the blonde a small smile that didn't reach her eyes, and then left.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

 **(WARNING: IT'S GOING TO GET VIOLENT)**

They grabbed her in the hospital parking lot late that night. She had just finished her 16 hour shift and all that was on her mind was getting home to bed as soon as possible. The events of the last week had stirred the busy but otherwise uneventful life at the hospital, and it had been all people talked about. Arizona was tired of hearing about it. And in some weird 'Hippocratic oath guilt trip' she was kind of sorry that she hadn't gotten to finish Sam Banner's treatment.

She shook her head at the thought. Detective Torres was right. He was probably an awful man, and in any other situation Arizona wouldn't have given a rat's ass what happened to him. She needed to let it go. And she needed to find a taxi and get home to bed.

What happened next didn't register in Arizona's brain before she was being dragged quickly into a large van. Two men grabbed her from behind, one of them holding a hand in front of her mouth, and as the door to the van closed shut with a loud metalic sound, Arizona was only partly surfacing from the initial surprise of being pulled out of her post work bubble so roughly.

She couldn't scream because the hand in front of her mouth had been replaced with a gag, and as she frantically looked around the back of the van where she was now laying, face down, the reality hit her like a freight train; She was being kidnapped.

At the same time on the other end of town Callie was about to get into her car, leaving a crime scene that had proven unrelated to the Sam Banner case.

"You wanna grab a drink?" her partner, Tim Jones, asked her.

"No...I...I think I'm gonna go back to the station for a bit"

"Torres, there's nothing you can do tonight. Tomorrow we'll all get back on it. We'll find him. And when we do, we'll also find the girl"

"Yeah…well, I can't let it rest" she simply said and shrugged her shoulders. She gave her partner a smile and then drove to the station where she focused on what to do with the surveillance images she had of an old van with half a unreadable company logo on it. The darkness of the night soon surrounded her.

It was dark where Arizona was too. Her hands were tied behind her back and she still had the gag in her mouth. It was so dark that she didn't know if she was in a small room or a large hall. She could hear no sounds.

She was trying to clear her head, but it was still throbbing from blows she had taken in the van earlier.

Suddenly a door opened and two men walked in. They grabbed her, took out the gag, and took her with them. They led her through a large abandoned factory and into what she assumed used to be the factory's office area.

When she saw who was waiting there, it dawned on her why she had been taken.

On the floor was Sam Banner. He looked pale, and Arizona knew why. The wounds hadn't had time to heal properly. The internal damage had been pretty severe, and Banner should have stayed at the hospital for at least another week or two.

He pulled the blanket aside so she could see the swollen and infected areas surrounding the bullet holes.

"Fix it!"

"I can't…I have no supplies…I don't…"

"Just. Fucking. Do. It" he threateningly hissed at her.

Arizona swallowed as the three other men untied her hands. She slowly kneeled next to the man, Callie's words 'He's done horrible things' ringing through her head.

She assessed the wounds.

"You need to go to the hospital" she tried.

"No need. I brought you here instead"

She took a deep breath.

"I need alcohol. Whiskey, Vodka. Anything" she then said "And some clean fabric. A towel. Or pieces of clothes or whatever you have. But it needs to be clean"

Two of the three men got out of the room and soon returned with the things she had requested. She cleaned Banner's wounds, and was then brought to a room with a bit of light in it. It was damp, and looked like something out of a 'Saw' movie. They tied her hands again.

Before the men left her she dared a plea.

"Please, please. Don't leave me here. Please. I won't tell anyone. Please"

But they simply shut the door.

Callie slept at the station, and when Tim came in the next morning, she was once again bent over her table, trying to connect the dots. It gave her a headache.

"I knew you'd sleep here" he simply said and placed a cup of coffee on her table. She reached for the cup, and moaned as she took a sip.

"Thank you, Tim. I needed that. And I need to catch this asshole soon or I'm afraid I'll never have a real meal or a social life again"

They spent the morning going over new leads. At noon an officer walked into her office. She and Tim were too busy to look up though.

"Doctor Robbins hasn't shown up for work"

His words made Callie looked up at the officer. For a second she was unable to place the information in her head.

"The doctor. Arizona Robbins. Nobody's seen her since she left work last night. And nobody's heard from her either"

Before Callie had a chance to say anything, another officer stepped into the office and said "They found the teenager in the harbor"

"Shit!"


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

It took Callie two days to crack the code. Two days of looking at the video of Arizona stepping out of the hospital and disappearing out of the side of the screen – into the darkness.

Callie spoke to everybody; Mark, the interns, Arizona's family. Nobody knew anything. And everybody was in shock.

She went over the case files of the now 6 dead women many, many times.

The pictures and the autopsy reports gave an indication of wrongful, wrongful death, but the reason why did not present itself until Callie noticed that all the autopsies had shown either severe tissue damage in the nipples and areolas of the women or in their labia minora – damage that finally made Callie conclude that the women hadn't just been roughly abused right before their death as a way to kill them, but that the abuse was why they had been kidnapped in the first place. It wasn't random violence. All 6 women had lived for a couple of days after being taken. They had been _used_ for something. They served a purpose.

She had a sexual violence expert look over the photos and he concluded that the damage had not been brought on by the women simply being beaten but that they had all had metal clamps and other restraining equipment attached to their bodies.

The mental image of what the women had gone through was too much to bear. It made Callie think about Arizona.

She'd initially resented the doctor for keeping them away from Banner, but she understood and respected where Arizona was coming from. They both had responsibilities in their jobs. And she liked how the doctor had the balls to just ignore her detective badge.

She looked at the photos of the latest victim. She was a 19 year old girl. She'd only been in the water for a few hours before she was found.

Callie focused her attention on what the girl was wearing; a very short pink skirt and a top that left very little to the imagination. She wasn't wearing any underwear.

According to the girl's mother, this outfit was not what she had been wearing when she left the house.

She was dressed up. In something Callie doubted she would have chosen to put on herself. And that's when it dawned on her. The person who was killing off these women had bought them from the kidnappers. Maybe from Banner and his possible crew. And then the women had been used as toys in sick, violent, torturous sex games.

"As soon as they have been in the hands of these people for a couple of guys, they're already so ruined physically that they're unsuitable to be resold. That's why they kill them" she said to herself.

She stared into the air, and then felt a coldness run down her spine as the reality of her own words hit her.

She once again thought about Arizona. Maybe the doctor was already dead.

She looked at the video of Arizona one more time, left a note for Tim who was across town talking to Mark once again about Arizona's habits, usual whereabouts etc., and then she drove to the hospital parking lot.

It was still light outside when she traced the steps of the doctor until she reached the area that was no longer covered by the hospital surveillance. Her guys had checked the area for other private surveillance, but she still took a good look around.

When she spotted the small camera sitting in a window above the parking lot she cursed her officers. They hadn't been thorough enough.

Behind the window was a private apartment and luckily the residents were home. They used the camera to film the sun up and sun down for a college film project, and didn't mind Callie looking through the footage.

It showed what Callie had hoped; the same van she already had footage off, but filmed from the other side, where the company logo was still whole so that she could read the name; 'Buon Vino'.

She left the apartment with the video evidence and went to her office. She found out that the company behind the logo had closed down years before. There was no owner listed and no additional information.

Then she searched the city company records and found that the company's last address was in what was now an abandoned industrial area.

She looked at the clock. It was late. Callie thought about Tim who was probably enjoying some quiet time with his wife. She didn't want to disturb him. And so she decided to go to the industrial area by herself. She'd scope it out and if it wasn't a completely dead lead, she'd call in more people.

It took her 20 minutes to drive there and when she parked her car in a place with absolutely no street lights, she thought to herself that this could end up being the stupidest thing she'd ever done.

It was.

As she got closer to the old factory and saw that there was light inside, she decided to get a bit closer before maybe calling back-up. That was a mistake. Staring through a window at two men who were drinking and hearing them talk about Banner should have made her run. She never got to that though, because as she turned around to leave, someone hit her on the head, and she was then dragged into the building.

In the meantime Arizona had been going through hell for two days.

After spending the first night trying to sleep on a cold concrete floor while still having her hands tied behind her back, she was woken up by somebody entering the room.

"Behave and it won't be too bad" he whispered before he pulled her to her feet and out of the room.

She was taken to one of the large factory halls, and they gave her some stale bread, a banana, and some water.

It was the same three guys as the day before. As she ate Arizona kept thinking 'I've seen their faces. They'll never let me live now that I've seen their faces'. She tried to quench the thoughts though and instead concentrate on how she'd be able to get out of there.

While bending her head down and sipping water, she chanced a glance to the side, checking if there were any doors or windows she'd be able to run to. There wasn't.

Then one of the guys kicked her in the ribs. It wasn't a very hard kick, but it was enough for her to know that they were not fooling around.

"Finish!" he yelled, and she quickly ate the last piece of banana.

Then they brought her to Banner and she cleaned his wounds again. She had doubted it the day before, but it looked like what she had done had helped. He looked better although still sick.

When she finished, one of the guys took her outside of the room while the two others stayed and spoke to Banner. The guy who was supposed to watch her was on the phone so he didn't realize that she could hear what was being said in the other room.

"You want her sold?"

"No. She's here to fix me. Then we'll decide what will happen"

"Okay, Banner"

"Any new ones in?"

"Not yet, Banner. But we're looking. Joseph is on our asses about it. He really wants a new girl"

"Then make it happen. You know how well he pays"

"Of course, Banner"

And that was the end of the conversation. The guys came out of the room and started walking Arizona back toward the room she had slept in. Before they got that far though, one of the guys yelled back towards the room Banner was in "Mind if we have a little fun with her?"

"Do what you want" came the answer. It sent chills down Arizona's spine. She didn't have much time to think about what might happen though because before she knew it, she was on her back in the room with one of the guys on top of her. He penetrated her and thrust in and out of her as he held a firm grip around her neck.

She cried so much it almost made her choke. What he was doing to her hurt. So much. And she was scared out of her mind.

He didn't take long, and when he'd finished he gave her a hard slap across the face, causing her lip to bleed.

He got up and left the room. Half an hour later the second guy came in, and the abuse repeated itself. When she was finally left alone, she curled herself up in a ball, pressed her forehead up against the cold concrete wall and cried herself to sleep.

She endured two days of this. Cleaning wounds and satisfying her capturers. And when she woke up on the third day, she was sure it would never end.

When the door to the room opened, the person who came into the room wasn't one of the guys though. It was Callie being pushed to the floor.

The second Callie hit the floor, the guy who had brought the latina grabbed Arizona, pulled her into a standing position with her back to him, pushed her upper body forward and pulled down her pants.

"No, no, no" she whimpered and tried to resist his strong hold.

He opened his pants.

"Please, please, don't" Arizona continued. The blonde was obviously in shock and in a pretty bad state.

"SHUT UP!" he yelled and rammed his fist into her side.

She gave a choked cry, and then he forcefully penetrated her.

Callie closed her eyes. She could not witness what was happening. She didn't want to violate Arizona by looking at what this man was doing to her. But she couldn't shut out Arizona's crying, and the pained whimpers coming from the blonde with what Callie assumed was every thrust.

It was hurting her mind and she was shaking with loathing towards these men.

Arizona's crying eventually stopped, and the only thing Callie could hear were the ever more erratic panting of the man. That eventually stopped too as he finished what he was doing.

"Fucking bitch!" Callie heard him hiss in his out-of-breath state, and as she felt Arizona being pushed onto the floor next to her and heard the door slam, she finally opened her eyes.

The latina looked at Arizona in the dim light. The blonde was one her back, frantically tugging her pants back in place, then staring at the ceiling, tears creating small clean paths on otherwise dirty cheeks. She looked broken.

"Doctor Robbins..." Callie started. But she didn't know what to say, so she simply scooted closer to the blonde and leaned into her as much as her handcuffed arms behind her back would allow.

At first Arizona flinched at the contact, but when the smell of Callie's perfume reached her brain – something so reminiscent of freedom – she released a sob that lasted until she had cried herself to sleep.

Callie didn't sleep. For hours she sat and watched Arizona. Her mind had gone blank with what she had already witnessed, and she was absolutely sure that they would probably not get out of there unless someone came and saved them. She had no gun and she was handcuffed. And there were three men against the two of them.

When Arizona woke up, Callie had finally dozed off, leaning against the wall.

The blonde studied the detective.

She wondered if it was all just a dream. If it was some sick fucking joke that the one person who knew the most about these men and was the one most likely to catch them, was now also captured.

The thought made her release a small laugh that quickly turned into tears. She was hurting. Her whole body was aching. It felt like these men had taken her, turned her inside out, and dipped her raw insides into a bathtub full of salt. Everything burned. And she could tell from the stains on the crotch of her pants that the roughness with which she had been abused had caused her to bleed.

She had only ever slept with a man once, when she was 17. It had been nice and she had thought that maybe that was what love and relationships were about; nice.

But later on in college she had fallen madly in love with a woman, and when she had sex with her for the first time, her mind exploded in white lights and the understanding that she was gay. So very gay. And that being with someone could be a world of difference from just 'nice'.

It had taken strength to come out of the closet.

Arizona was strong.

Now she was captured. And beaten. And she had been raped.

She wasn't sure how to be strong now.

And in front of her was Seattle's very best police detective. In handcuffs.

The absurdity of the situation was overwhelming.

When she looked up, her eyes met Callie's. The latina was awake.

Arizona's blue eyes were so bright that Callie breath hitched for a second.

"I've been looking for you" she then said.

"You found me"

"Doctor Robbins...I'm...I'm so sorry"

Immediately Arizona's eyes welled up.

"Please...don't...please" she pleaded in a whisper.

Arizona couldn't quite put a finger on the feeling she had. Embarrassment? Shame? Disgust? Either which one, she had to push the feeling far back into her mind or it would break her right then and there.

Callie knew. And she didn't push it.

They were silent for a while.

"What happens?" Callie then said.

Arizona collected herself.

"They uh...they come in the morning and take me out into a big factory like hall. I get food. Water. There's three of them. And Sam Banner. I check his wounds. Then they put me back in here and only come back for…visits…"

The blonde swallowed thickly.

"Any other women?"

"I haven't seen any"

"What do they talk about?"

Arizona closed her eyes and swallowed. It took her a moment to get the words out.

"They talk about getting girls... And they talk about...what they want to do to me"

Callie clenched her jaw.

"Is anyone coming?" Arizona whispered.

"If they're not total idiots" Callie simply said.

She had done the calculation. It would take Tim a day or so to go through the leads she had collected on her desk. Among them was a post-it note with the words 'industrial area'. Once he would see the note it would probably take him another day or two to find the connection between the company logo on the van from the surveillance footage and the company's old registered business address in the abandoned industrial area. She was hoping with everything she had that they would be out of there within 48 to 72 hours. That of course depended on whether or not they would be dead by then.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

They were left alone for 10 hours. Then the routine of the previous days started.

They were both brought into the large hall, Arizona cleaned Banner's wounds, and they were given food and water.

None of the guys said anything. They simply watched as the women hurriedly ate and drank. Then the women were brought back into the room. Callie could sense Arizona tensing up as they walked through the door, and she guessed what it meant. One of the guys pushed the doctor onto the floor and then pulled all her clothes off.

Callie once again looked the other way as he had his way with the blonde. She wanted to scream at the guy, but she knew what the men were capable of and she didn't want to make them angry.

The choked cries coming from Arizona broke Callie's heart.

When the man finished, he gathered Arizona's clothes to take it with him, and before he left the room he looked at Callie and said "Joe will come in a little while. And I'm sure he's gonna be all over you, Mexico. He likes the darker kind"

The man let go of a mechanical laughter as he walked out of the room and slammed the door shut.

Both women winced at the loudness.

Callie didn't look at Arizona. She knew the doctor was naked. And broken. And she feared that if she said anything now, her voice would betray her and make it very obvious to both Arizona and herself how scared she was.

Ten minutes later Joe came in. He looked at Arizona and smiled cheekily at her nakedness. And then he looked at Callie with a completely different look on his face; Want.

He pulled her into a standing position by her arm and looked her up and down as if she had been top quality cattle.

Then he took out a knife and cut at her clothes until she was standing completely naked in front of him.

"You're fine" he growled.

His words and the look in his eyes did something to Callie. Suddenly she didn't give a fuck.

She spat him in the face.

"You're gonna regret that" he hissed and kicked her in the stomach so she fell backwards to the floor. He was on top of her immediately, forcing her legs apart, opening his pants, and then forcefully entering her.

Arizona - who was turned against the wall, shivering with cold and fear - heard a sharp intake of air and then the sound of the thrusts the man was making. She didn't hear a sound coming from Callie.

"You're so tight, bitch" he said "You're so fucking tight"

As the doctor heard the man come, she threw up.

And then he got up and left.

It took everything Arizona had to turn around and face Callie. The latina had crawled into the corner and pulled her legs up in front of her, obviously cold and in pain.

The doctor didn't know what to say. Truth was she didn't know if there even was anything to say.

Callie closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against her arms.

Arizona watched her, trying to figure out if this was it. If detective Torres was now clocking out or if she was - much like the blonde - trying to shove the pain deep down into a strong core where it could stay until they were able to get out of there.

Turned out Callie was gathering herself so that some sort of normality could be restored.

"Your name. Tell me about it" she suddenly said without looking up.

The blonde looked at her questioningly and as Callie lifted her head, their eyes met in an understanding that they would have to try to live through this.

"I'm assuming you're not named for the state. There must be more to it?" the brunette continued.

"Well...yeah..." Arizona started, her lips shivering with the cold "I was named for the battleship...uhm...my dad...he's a military man. I grew up an army brat"

"Where?"

"Everywhere"

They were silent for a minute.

"Where did you grow up?" Arizona then asked, trying to keep the conversation going, trying to keep the safety of normality present in the space between them and in the seriousness of their situation.

"Miami" Callie said "Same house my whole childhood actually"

Arizona nodded. The silence following Callie's last word was deafening.

"Please. Keep talking" Arizona croaked.

Callie understood.

"Uhm…we lived close to a lot of family members. Until I was 10 I thought that Miami was _our_ city. That there weren't any other people living in the city than family and friends and friends of family"

The thought of the close-knit community made Arizona relax a little. She closed her eyes and imagined sunny Miami, the beach, the soft caressing winds.

Callie paused for a second as if she was trying to remember.

"On Flagler Street in Little Havana there was this little café where they sold tamales with meat and cheese that tasted like heaven. I wonder if the place is still there"

And so Callie talked for an hour. About everything and nothing. With a low and soothing voice. Until they were pulled out of the room and dragged to the old factory showers.

It was a large room with rust running down the walls and the sound of rats moving about in the nooks and shadows.

"You guys are filthy!" one of the guys said with disdain in his voice.

He pushed a wash cloth into Callie's hand.

"Wash blondie - everywhere! And then make her feel real good!" he said with a smirk and swatted Callie's behind with the handcuff he had just taken off her.

The latina clenched her jaw as the showers were turned on and cold water rushed over them. None of them dared flinch at the cold. They simply stood still, facing each other until the water slowly got warmer.

20 feet away from them the three men had sat down and were smoking, drinking, and chatting while looking at the 'show'.

Callie took a small step closer to Arizona. She slowly lifted the wash cloth as if to signal that she was now going to use it, and then she placed it on Arizona's shoulder.

"Just close your eyes" she whispered "Think of something nice. Like showering at camp when you were little"

The rusty pipes and the gushing water were making enough noise to hide her whispers, and the sound of her soft voice and reassuring words were enough for Arizona to relax her shoulders.

Arizona's nod was barely there, but Callie saw it. And then she started moving the cloth. She washed Arizona's upper body, very gently brushing the blonde's breasts as she let the cloth travel down Arizona's body.

They avoided eye contact.

When Callie let the cloth slip in between Arizona's legs, she placed a hand on the blonde's hip, and squeezed Arizona's skin as if to divert Arizona's thoughts from what was happening.

"YOUR TURN, MEXICO!" one of the guys then yelled a couple of minutes later.

Callie looked at the cloth and then slowly handed it to Arizona. Arizona took it and they looked into each other's eyes for a fraction of a second before Arizona started washing the brunette's body.

Arizona's movements were slow. As if she knew what was coming. As if she wanted to keep what was going to happen at bay.

Callie also knew.

"EAT HER OUT, MEXICO!"

Callie closed her eyes at the words. Her jaw was clenched so tight that her teeth threatened to give in.

She opened her eyes again and looked straight into Arizona's.

She could see tears gathering in the blonde's eyes, and Arizona started shaking her head in disbelief.

Callie swallowed and she gathered herself enough to give the blonde the most reassuring look she could muster given the circumstances. She was okay. She was going to be fine. She had to be fine. But she didn't know about Arizona.

She swallowed and then lowered herself to her knees.

She chanced a quick glance at the men. They were expecting a good show, and she thought to herself that if they would all just jerk of to this then maybe Arizona wouldn't have to do the same to her. The thought empowered her.

She let her hands run up Arizona's thighs and touched the blonde's ass. She pulled Arizona closer so that her face was very close to the blonde's core. And then she leaned in and let her tongue touch Arizona's folds and clit. Very gently.

She held on the Arizona's ass to keep the blonde in place and to make sure that the guys got the show they wanted. She didn't want to risk punishment. Not for herself. And not for Arizona.

Arizona stared ahead. She refused to sink into the feeling of what Callie was doing to her. She refused to let the gentleness of Callie's tongue affect her.

But her body betrayed her. It felt good. And the fact that it felt good made her feel guilty. She was getting wet and across the room three horrible men were watching her lose her cool.

Callie could feel Arizona tense up. She stopped what she was doing and looked up at the blonde.

"It's okay. Just let go" she whispered, reassuring Arizona that she understood the reactions of Arizona's body and that she was perfectly fine with it. They would get through it together.

"NO TALKING, BITCHES! GET BACK TO WORK!"

Callie resumed what she was doing, and nudged Arizona's legs apart so she had better access to Arizona's core. For a second she contemplated penetrating the blonde with a finger to bring Arizona more pleasure, but she had no idea what that would do to Arizona and whether Arizona's vagina was so roughed up that it would hurt the doctor. Instead Callie let her hands run up and down the back of Arizona's thighs in a soothing motion.

Arizona knew the guys were jerking off now. And she realized it was a good thing. It would mean no further abuse for a few hours. She decided to let herself go and try to take herself to a happy place. To somewhere far away from the dirty factory showers. To sexy nights spent with past lovers.

Trying to think of other women was futile though because right at that moment Callie's presence surrounded her with a sense of safety, so instead she simply tried to imagine them somewhere else. On the grass in a park. On the beach. In a soft bed.

It calmed her down. It made her relax. And her mind started drifting off, finally digging out the image of Callie taking the woman in white that night next to the club. It's what finally made Arizona's walls start clenching and she had to grab Callie's hair to steady herself as the orgasm rolled through her body and she moaned with pleasure.

She felt a tingle behind her eye lids and waves of warmth roll through her.

Her pleasure was soon quelled by the sounds coming from their audience though.

None of the women dared looking over at the men, but they knew that what they had just done had had the result they had hoped. The guys were satisfied, and that could mean a few hours of peace for the two women.

After being put back in their cell none of them spoke.

They had been given a blanket and without saying anything, Callie put it over both of them and pulled the other woman close.

For a few minutes they were both shaking from the cold, but their closeness soon made the low temperature bearable.

"I never went to camp" Arizona whispered.

"Me neither" Callie said.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

The next day they weren't brought out of the room, and they didn't get any food. One of their capturers checked on them while he was on the phone, and they heard him say "It's fine. We found someone new by the university this morning. Come and collect her" Then he hung up and looked at the two women.

He squatted in front of Callie.

"Don't you dare look at me like that, bitch!" he said slowly and pulled out a knife.

"Why don't you just kill me and get it over with" Callie hissed and exposed her neck at him.

"Oh, I'd love to, but there's still a few rounds left in you" he said with a smirk.

And then he stuck the tip of his knife into the skin of Callie's upper arm, and pulled downwards, making a deep cut, causing blood to run in wide rivers down the latina's arm.

He left the room with a laugh.

Arizona looked at Callie with horror. They'd been locked and tied to metal rings in the floor so they couldn't move. The blonde pulled at the ropes she had around her wrists, but she couldn't get loose.

The Latina cleared her throat, pressing the wound against the wall, trying to keep the blood from spilling.

"It's okay. It's not too bad"

"Callie…" Arizona tried, wishing with everything she had that she could just get to Callie's side of the room and tie something around the latina's arm.

"They kidnap women and sell them" Callie said, partly to distract Arizona from the blood, partly to inform Arizona of what was going on in case she wouldn't make it through herself.

Callie continued "Apparently there is a marked for...extremely rough sex where...men...buy women and...sexually and otherwise physically abuse them to the point of death"

Arizona gasped. And then she started crying, shaking with fear.

Callie wanted to crawl over to her. She wanted to try to make things better, but the handcuffs were keeping her locked to the ground, so she just said.

"Don't cry. We'll…we'll get out…I promise"

Half an hour later they were both dozing off. The cold kept them awake at night, and they were constantly exhausted from being on edge all the time.

What woke them up was something that made chills run down both their spines; the sound of a woman screaming in pain.

They looked at each other. Arizona covered her ears.

"It's okay, it's okay, it's okay" Callie chanted to reassure both the blonde and herself.

The screaming continued for what seemed like forever. And then all of a sudden everything was silent.

None of the women dared say anything. They sat silently, as if they were simply waiting for death. It was both unsettling and very calming. A state of bliss in the middle of all the terror.

When the special police forces burst through the gate of the building, Callie and Arizona could hear the commotion all the way in their room. There was shooting.

The two women looked at each other, leaning against opposite walls.

It took less than two minutes before the door to the room was kicked open and three SWAT guys came into view.

Arizona burst into tears at the sight.

As they were taken out of the building and into different ambulances, the blonde locked eyes with Callie across the parking lot. It was a look that was meant to say so much.

Callie understood.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

The first three days after their liberation they spent in the hospital, being checked, treated, questioned, and speaking to a psychologist.

Callie felt dizzy all the time and she couldn't stop thinking about Arizona. About how the blonde was coping with everything.

Nobody could tell her much thought, as Arizona was on a different floor and none of them were supposed to go anywhere before they were both discharged. There were too many nosy people in the hospital and too much press waiting outside for them to simply walk around.

Tim came into her room right after she was done with her first medical check-up, had been given emergency contraception, and had taken a shower.

When she saw his face, she suddenly lost the cool she had been holding on to with everything she had.

The tears came and her whole body shook with pain and repulsion.

Tim walked over and engulfed her in a strong hug and simply held her like that for a long time.

"Tell me" she croaked.

The man leaned back a little and let go of her. It was back to business, and he understood that she needed the details of what had happened with the case to keep her mind off what had happened to herself.

"I found your note on the industrial area. From then on it was fairly straightforward. The SWAT team took down two of the guys. Sam Banner, a man called 'Joseph' who apparently was the guy who commissioned the women, and the last guy are all in custody. There was a girl...she didn't make it"

Callie nodded slowly.

"And how is she?"

"I don't know"

He paused for a few seconds as if what he was going to say was too much for him to bear.

"7 rapes, counting an act of abuse that involved you"

Callie swallowed.

"Yes"

"And you?" he asked with concern.

"Twice"

She didn't look him in the eye. The rape and what had happened in the showers was something so very private. But she knew that it would soon be something very public. It made her stomach turn. For her and for Arizona.

She clenched her jaw.

"I'll have Michaels collect your story. If you don't mind"

Callie nodded again without making eye contact. She knew that if they were to continue as partners, Tim should not hear the details of what had happened.

Tim came back the next day to check on her, and the day after that. They small talked and even laughed a bit about something Tim's wife had said about Tim's favorite football team.

Normality was restoring itself. On the outside.

On the inside Arizona and the blonde's wellbeing was all Callie thought about.

"Which floor is she on?" she asked Tim.

"5th. They found a secluded room for her in plastics. Apparently it's the most quiet place in the hospital"

"Can I see her?"

"Torres, your wound is barely starting to heal. Don't you think you should stay here until they tell you it's okay to leave? Besides, her colleagues have her room guarded better than Fort Knox"

"I...I need to see her, okay?"

The detective paused, then let go of a sigh and nodded.

"I'll see what I can do"

Two hours later Callie was standing in front of the door to Arizona's room. She was hesitating.

Mark walked up and stood next to her.

"Thanks for...being there with her"

Callie looked at him, not completely understanding what his words meant.

"She...she's been asking about you" he continued.

"Is she okay? Physically? They...they..."

"She's okay"

Callie gave a sigh of relief. And then she reached out her hand and turned the door knob.

Arizona was awake. She was sitting with her legs over the side of the bed, looking down at the floor.

She gasped in surprise and looked up as Callie walked through the door.

"Callie..." she breathed out and immediately tears gathered in her eyes.

The detective was frozen to the spot, not knowing what exactly she wanted to do and not knowing what Arizona wanted her to do.

They were no longer prisoners in a dirty and dark room, and Callie didn't know how well they 'knew' each other 'out here', how physical they were comfortable with being.

Arizona got up. She was wearing a hospital robe, and her blonde curls framed her face in a way that made her look more beautiful than Callie remembered her. Her eyes were impossibly blue.

Throwing caution to the wind, the latina quickly walked over to her and engulfed her in a strong hug.

Arizona buried her nose in Callie's hair. The latina smelled good. And safe.

Callie then pulled back a little and looked into Arizona's eyes.

"Hey" she whispered.

They were both silent for what felt like a few minutes. Arizona was the first one to speak.

"Doctor Bailey...she...she wants to see us together. Before we get to leave"

"Yeah. She said that"

They both knew the psychologist was right. They'd gone through something horrible together, and they needed to sort out the bond it had created between them, good and bad. It was part of their healing process.

"Did they...did they draw blood for the test?" Arizona then asked.

Callie knew the blonde meant the HIV test that she was trying to not think about. Knowing that the final result of the test was weeks away.

"Yes"

Arizona swallowed and lifted a hand to Callie's face, pulling a lock of dark hair behind Callie's ear.

"You... Thank you" she then whispered.

That was all the alone time they got because a nurse came in and told Callie that she was needed back in her own room for a check-up.

"See you at 5 o'clock?" Arizona asked as Callie was on her way out the door. There was a hope in her voice.

Callie simply nodded, and then she left the room.

Therapy seemed like the wrong place to see each other, but at the same time therapy meant that they'd soon be able to go home.

Later in the day they were sitting next to each other on a couch in doctor Bailey's office on the 7th floor. The psychologist was going over some of the most significant events of the two women's time together in the old factory, trying to make them apply meaning to something meaningless.

"Callie, yesterday we talked about the rape. It's something I'd like us to revisit. You were both in the room when it happened. Very close"

"Yes"

"How did it make you feel?"

"I don't...I don't know..."

"Try" doctor Bailey gently nudged.

Callie knew the doctor meant well. And she was rational enough to know that the therapy was meant to make her feel better. Maybe it would even quell the night terrors she was experiencing. And she had promised herself to be open.

She took a deep breath.

"I...I'm a...top"

"A top?" the psychologist asked.

Arizona turned her head and studied the latina. She knew what Callie meant.

"Yes. A top. I'm...I'm usually the one in charge during sex. I'm...I'm the aggressor"

Doctor Bailey tilted her head slightly, waiting for Callie to get to the point.

"He took that away from me. And I felt exposed. Weak. In front of someone that I...that..."

Callie stopped and looked down. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know how to explain how she had felt. Didn't know if she could just say it. That meeting Arizona at the club before they had both been taken, had made a warm feeling spread in her chest. That being raped while Arizona was less than 10 feet away felt like a belittlement. Like the usual power she possessed in her job, in her private life, with women, during sex, had been taken away from her. And also that being locked up with the blonde had somehow broken a piece off her heart. A piece that was now lying around somewhere, waiting for Arizona to pick it up.

She couldn't say it. Because she didn't know how. She didn't know if her words would be misunderstood as some sort of 'co-prisoner Stockholm syndrome'.

"And how did it make you feel to witness what happened, Arizona?" the doctor then asked the blonde.

Arizona pulled her eyes away from Callie and looked at doctor Bailey.

"It made me sick" she croaked, the feelings of the experience welling up inside of her. She looked at Callie again "I didn't think about you. I thought about the violation of you. About the violation of me. I don't...I don't..."

"Try to continue, Arizona" doctor Bailey said.

Arizona swallowed.

"I saw you in the alley"

Callie looked at her questioningly.

"I saw you in the alley next to the club. You were with a woman. I didn't mean to watch you. It just happened"

As she saw how it dawned on Callie what she was talking about, the blonde looked down at her own hands.

"Anyways, when we were in the showers that's what I thought about. You. As a top"

She hoped that Callie would understand. That she hadn't meant to spy. And that she didn't mean to sound like she was thinking about Callie in a sexual way. At least she didn't want it to be known. She wanted Callie to know that how she had seen her in the alley was how she saw her; strong, dominant, assertive.

She knew she had feelings for Callie. She just didn't know what they meant. She tried to tell herself that her feelings were merely a reaction to what had happened, but deep down inside she knew there was more to them than that. But since she didn't know how Callie felt, she was going to keep her own feelings locked up tight for now.

She looked up and met Callie's eyes.

The latina nodded gratefully.

"And you, Callie, how did you feel witnessing what was done to Arizona" Bailey asked.

Callie looked at the psychologist but quickly looked back at Arizona when she heard a small gasp escape the blonde. Arizona was now crying, the thought of what had been done to her, her nakedness, being exposed, the cold of the concrete floor very vividly playing in her mind.

"I didn't" Callie simply said.

"Excuse me?" Bailey asked.

"I didn't witness it" Callie repeated.

Arizona looked at the latina and furrowed her brow. She didn't understand. But then it suddenly dawned on her. She understood that Callie had decided to close out that part of what had happened to protect the blonde. It made sense. Callie was protective. It was her job. It was her nature.

Bailey studied the two women as they simply looked at each other for a long time.

Then Arizona cleared her throat.

"Well, I...I felt safer having you there. It was...better...after you arrived"

Callie didn't say anything. There was silence except from the scribbling sound coming from doctor Bailey's pen.

She set up new appointments with both of them. Apparently there would be no need for further joint sessions.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

After being cooped up for another three days in each their hospital room, both seeing doctor Bailey every day, they were discharged. Mark drove Arizona home, and Callie went straight to the police station.

As she walked into her office, the first thing she heard was Tim's voice.

"Go home, Torres!" he said.

"I can't...I..."

"Go home!" he said again.

Callie knew he was right to order her out of there. The case was on its way to being solved, and she had no business being there only a week after getting out of captivity. She needed to go home. And she needed to stay away from work for a while.

She nodded and looked at Tim with gratitude.

"Can you...can you drive me?" she croaked.

"Of course"

When Tim left her apartment half an hour later, Callie felt suddenly so very lonely. She'd spoken to her sister and assured her that everything was fine. Her entire family was in Miami and since she wasn't very close to them, her disappearance hadn't caused much of a fuss. It suited her fine.

But the emptiness and silence of her home overwhelmed her.

She sat down on the couch and didn't move at all for a few hours. The darkness felt safe.

She hadn't heard from Arizona. And she didn't know if Arizona wanted to hear from her. It was all very confusing. Were they tied together by what had happened? Were they friends? They certainly hadn't been before, so why would they now?

She stayed inside for three days. Only getting out of bed or up from the couch to shower or order take-out. She didn't sleep much. Every time she drifted off she heard screaming or felt like she was back on the cold concrete floor. It messed with her head, and even though she was exhausted, it made her shy away from sleep.

On the third day of her lonely misery, she received a voice mail from Mark Sloan.

"It's Mark. Sloan. Listen, I know you have your own shit, but do you think...do you think you could stop by and see Arizona? She's okay...she's okay...but she...she doesn't sleep much...I don't know...I have to go away for a conference for a few days...and I don't like to leave her alone. She doesn't want her parents here. Maybe you could check in on her or something?" There was a silence, the only sound being Mark's heavy breathing. Callie could tell he was as angry and frustrated as she was. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck this whole thing!" he then said and hung up.

She looked at her phone for a while, thoughts racing through her head. She wanted to see Arizona. Wanted to be there for the blonde. But she didn't know how she'd handle it herself.

She wrote a message to Mark.

 **Don't worry, I'll check on her - Callie**

He wrote her back immediately.

 **Thank you thank you thank you! I'll be back Sunday night - Mark**

Callie pushed herself into a sitting position, her legs over the side of the bed. She looked out the window at a Seattle bathed in a sharp afternoon sun.

Spring had come and almost gone, and she felt like it had happened in minutes. Summer was going to be warm. She could feel it. The sun was going to come and wash away everything. Nightmares, anger, loneliness.

Two hours later she was standing in front of the door to Mark's apartment. She shook her head and closed her eyes. Why had she come? But she still knocked.

Arizona opened the door. She was wearing sweat pants and a tank top, and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, leaving a few strands of curly hair frame her face. She looked absolutely adorable.

Arizona looked surprised to see Callie, but Callie also detected something else in the blonde's eyes; relief or happiness maybe.

"How's life?"

Callie's question made both of them let go of a small laugh.

"Oh you know, it's all sunshine and roses" Arizona then said.

"I thought so"

Callie smiled. They both had tears in their eyes.

"Mark tells me you don't sleep"

"Do you?"

"No"

And that was it. None of them felt the need to dig deeper into what they were going through. Arizona stepped aside and let Callie into the apartment.

"Do you want some wine?"

"God, yes" Callie breathed out.

Arizona chuckled and Callie smiled.

"I know how desperate that sounded" Callie then said.

"Don't worry" Arizona laughed "I have plenty"

She took out two wine glasses and they sat down at the breakfast bar.

As soon as they were seated, Mark's answering machine started running and a woman's voice rang through. _'Hey baby, just calling to hear if I can come over for...you know. Call me'_

"You...uhm...have a girlfriend?" Callie asked.

Arizona glanced at a small box on the kitchen counter. It contained the remnants of her and Joann's relationship.

She'd read Joann's message 500 times and had then decided to finally get the woman out of her life for good. So she'd collected what was left; jewelry, a few pictures, the key to the apartment, and was now going to simply send it to Joann. Without a letter.

"No, that's for Mark. I had one. A girlfriend. She...well...we broke up a few months ago. I'm staying here till I find my own place"

There was a silence.

"How about you and that woman. In the alley?"

"No" Callie smiled "That was...uhm...just...uhm..."

"Pleasure?" Arizona asked cheekily.

"Yeah..." Callie blushed.

"Looked like it" the blonde then said and poured them some more wine.

"Do you go to 'The Empire' often? I don't think I've ever seen you there" the latina asked.

"Once in a while. Well, actually when we met there was my first time back since the...breakup... It was either getting back out there or getting a cat, and I'm allergic, so going out was pretty much the only option"

"Allergic to cats? And they still let you be a lesbian?" Callie mocked.

"I pay an extra membership fee"

They both laughed. The light banter felt good.

"Why did you break up?"

Callie immediately regretted her question. They probably weren't close enough for her to ask things like that.

"I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that"

"No, no, it's okay" Arizona said "She...she cheated on me"

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah... We had been in a bad place for a while I guess. I probably...I mean, I was probably the reason, actually"

"Why would you say that? You don't seem like someone who deserves to be cheated on"

Hearing Callie's words made Arizona look up from her wine glass and lock eyes with the brunette. She felt a warmth spread in her chest.

"We wanted different things out of life. And for a long time I wasn't clear enough about my wishes. When I finally made my needs clear, we were already going in different directions. She was on a path that wouldn't include kids, and I...well, I..."

"You want kids?" Callie asked in a surprised tone.

"Yeah. Don't you?"

"Well, I haven't really thought about it. Maybe. I don't know. I've never been with anyone that I've felt like I wanted kids with, I guess" Callie chuckled "This got deep pretty fast"

Arizona smiled, showing her amazing dimples.

"We've been raped in front of each other. Anything after that is an easy ride"

Callie almost spit out her wine, and they both laughed, relieved by the place they were in. A place where they could laugh in the face of something so horrible. They'd shared the experience, and they would share moving on from it.

"What made you become a detective?" Arizona then asked.

"I just picked what would disappoint my dad the most"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, it was already bad enough that he caught me on his yacht with the daughter of one of his business partners. When he suggested I chose between law and medicine, I took great pleasure in showing him the acceptance letter from the police academy. Him and I had a war going on at that time. A war of wills. I won that round" Callie shrugged her shoulders.

"You sound like you were a horrible teenager" Arizona chuckled.

"Oh, I _was_! A menace! How about you?"

"I was a very well behaved young woman. I aced my exams in high school, I did great in pre med, and I strolled through med school. I was pretty boring really. But then came my wild intern days in Chicago..."

Callie raised her eye brows.

"Do tell, doctor Robbins"

They talked for a few hours. About nothing and everything. Mostly about work and shenanigans.

They ordered pizza, and when they finished dinner, Arizona nodded towards the TV and asked "Wanna watch something?"

"Sure"

Callie didn't want to leave yet. For the first time since being held in the factory, she felt like a bit of normality had been restored.

They sat down on the couch, and Arizona made Callie chose between "'When Harry met Sally', 'Notting Hill', and "Four weddings and a funeral"

"You only have rom-coms?" Callie whined.

"They're amazing movies!" Arizona retorted "Now pick one!"

"That is probably the most heterosexual selection I've ever seen" Callie said and reluctantly pointed at 'When Harry met Sally'. When she saw how Arizona sat down on the couch and started the movie very enthusiastically, she smiled to herself.

They both had a good time, commenting their way through the movie. When the movie ended, Callie looked at Arizona. The blonde looked exhausted much like she felt herself.

"It's late. I should go"

"No. Please stay" Arizona said.

Callie looked at her, contemplating the words.

"I...I can't sleep. Please...stay... Sleep with me"

Callie blinked. She knew Arizona didn't mean sex. But the idea of the closeness sleeping together meant, made her nervous. The pleading look in Arizona's eyes made her forget all about her nervousness though.

"Okay" she said.

"Thank you" Arizona closed her eyes in gratitude, got up, turned off the TV, and walked into her bedroom.

Callie stayed for a few minutes, not knowing what to do with herself exactly.

"You coming?" Arizona's voice then sounded from the room.

Callie got up and walked into the room where Arizona was now dressed in a white button down tank top and a pair of gray cotton shorts.

"There's a new toothbrush by the sink, and I...I have this t-shirt you can borrow" Arizona said and handed Callie the shirt.

Callie took it, paused for a second, and then walked into the bathroom and closed the door after her.

She stood in front of the mirror for a few minutes. How had she gotten here?

She brushed her teeth and undressed slowly, folding her clothes meticulously. On the other side of the door was Arizona, in bed, waiting for her. The thought scared her to death.

She finally walked out of the bathroom and tried not to look at Arizona as she rounded the bed to get to the unoccupied side. She sat down and then turned to look at the blonde.

Then she crawled under the covers and faced the ceiling.

Arizona turned off the light.

"Goodnight" the blonde then said as if having Callie there, next to her in bed, was the most natural thing in the whole world.

"Goodnight"


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

Callie struggled with how it had happened, but somehow being in the bed with Arizona, hearing the sound of the blonde's breath had lulled her to sleep. And she had slept all through the night for the first time since they had left the factory.

When she woke up, Arizona was no longer in bed next to her. She could hear sounds coming from the kitchen, so she got up and walked into the living room.

Arizona was at the breakfast bar, preparing two plates of eggs and bacon. It smelled delicious, and when the blonde saw Callie, she simply said "Just in time for breakfast. Sit down"

They ate. And talked. And laughed at the messages that kept rolling in on Mark's answering machine. One-night-stands trying to get through to the handsome doctor.

They spent all day together. In the morning they went to the aquarium, and in the afternoon they watched a movie at a theater close to Mark's place. They had dinner at a small French restaurant and then walked back to the apartment. It was late, and when Arizona walked into the apartment, Callie stayed in the hall, hesitating. She didn't know if she should stay or go.

Arizona turned around and looked at her.

"Don't go" the blonde said.

And that's how it happened that Callie stayed for another two nights until Mark came home Sunday.

She could tell that something was up with Arizona as she said her goodbyes and left. The blonde didn't seem very invested in Mark's ramblings about the conference he had attended.

When she heard a knock on her own door an hour and a half later and saw Arizona standing in the hall, she understood. Much like herself, Arizona wasn't ready for any more sleepless nights.

After that, sleeping together turned into a routine. They both returned to work after a week, and most nights they slept at Callie's place, but whenever Arizona had late days at work, they would sleep at Mark's as it was closer to the hospital.

Mark never said anything. He understood. And he was happy that Arizona seemed to be doing better. But he had misunderstood, thinking that the two women were having sex. That they were a couple.

One day during lunch, Arizona clarified the situation, leaving Mark slightly baffled.

"You sleep together but you don't sleep with each other?"

"Mhmmm" Arizona said, biting down on a piece of bread.

"Why?"

"It's nice. Safe, Mark. I couldn't sleep. Now I sleep"

"What's going to happen then? Are you just going to sleep together forever?"

"I don't know"

"Do you like her?"

"Yes"

"No, I mean, do you _like_ her?"

Arizona stopped her fork mid-air and looked at him. She liked Callie. And she _liked_ Callie. She just didn't know if she was ready to share that with anyone just yet.

Nothing got past Mark though.

"Are you going to tell her?" he simply asked.

"At some point"

"Good. Anyone you feel that comfortable sleeping with is worth hanging onto" Mark then said, kissed her cheek and got up to get to surgery on time.

That afternoon the HIV tests came back negative. Callie was at work when she got the call from the hospital. Relief didn't describe what she felt.

She immediately asked Tim to drop whatever he was doing and go for a drink with her.

They'd had a couple of beers when Callie received a message from Arizona.

 **Did you get the answer? All clear! :-) Almost calls for champagne, don't you think? - A**

 **I'm already at Joe's drinking. Wanna join? - C**

 **YES! I'll be there in 10 - A**

When Arizona walked through the doors of Joe's and saw Callie's smiling face, she felt like she was coming home. She was introduced to Tim who was getting up to leave to pick up some ice cream for his now pregnant wife, and then Arizona sat down at the bar next to Callie.

They ordered beers and shots, and when their drinks arrived, Arizona lifted her beer and said "To health!"

"To being cleared for sex!" Callie said and clinked her beer against Arizona's.

The latina's comment made Arizona's breath hitch. The thought of Callie going out there and having sex with someone made her slightly jealous. Very jealous actually. She quickly started talking about something else.

"How was your day?"

"The best!" Callie said "We caught an arsonist that has been causing trouble in Westlake. You?"

"Awesome! I saved the legs of a man who'd had them crushed in a motorcycle accident"

They looked at each other with wide smiles. And then they drank. For hours.

At midnight they walked out of Joe's and directly into a taxi. They were both off the following day, so they would sleep at Callie's place.

Arizona couldn't keep her eyes off Callie, and because the latina spent all of their taxi ride speaking Spanish with the taxi driver, it gave Arizona plenty of time to stare at the brunette and think about exactly how much she liked Callie. She was drunk, and she knew she'd have to be careful to not jump Callie when they got to bed.

She spent a long time in the bathroom, splashing cold water on her face to sober herself up a bit. It didn't help much though, because when she got into bed, she saw Callie standing with her back to her, kicking off her pants and pulling off her shirt and bra, exposing a toned and tanned back and a pair of black lace panties.

Arizona couldn't help but stare.

Callie quickly pulled a t-shirt over her head and then turned around.

"You...are so beautiful, Calliope" Arizona whispered.

Callie stared at her, hit by the sincerity of Arizona's words and tone of voice, and then she let go of a small laugh.

"Drunk is what I am" she then said as she got under the covers "And I think you are too"

Arizona smiled and breathed out a "Yeah"

And then they both very peacefully drifted off to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11**

A week later something happened.

Callie woke up as a ray of light hit her face early in the morning. She felt disoriented. And warm. And when she realized why she felt warm, she let go of a small gasp. Arizona was on her stomach, the blonde's upper body leaned into her own, and Arizona's hand resting right between her breasts.

It was a position of such surrender that it made Callie's breath hitch and her heart rate go up.

Arizona stirred and then slowly lifted her head to look at Callie. She looked sleepy. And sexy. And she looked as if she hadn't realized how close they were.

Callie moved the blonde's hand away and quickly got out of bed.

"Breakfast at Lily's?" she asked, acting like nothing had happened. She didn't wait for an answer but simply walked into the bathroom and jumped in the shower, trying to get as far away from what had happened as possible.

None of them said much on their way to Lily's. The diner was pretty quiet. And so were they.

They both knew that there was a talk to be had. A talk about sleeping in the same bed.

Callie was trying to keep the talk at bay, not wanting to burst the bubble they were in. But Arizona felt brave.

"Callie, I like sleeping with you" the blonde started "I...I _really_ like sleeping with you"

"Arizona..." Callie said. She didn't know how to continue. She didn't know if she wanted to stop Arizona so that the blonde couldn't say what she was going to say or if she actually wanted Arizona to say it. Everything was so fucking confusing.

Arizona pushed through.

"Don't tell me I'm crazy! Don't tell me you don't feel anything!"

"I do feel something!" Callie retorted.

"Then what is the problem? Callie, please!"

Callie closed her eyes for a second. The truth was now going to surface. She couldn't hold it back anymore.

"I...I wanted to talk to you at the club...before everything happened…I...I wanted to sweep you off your feet. You know, get your number, take you out to dinner, and then...and then make love to you..." Callie looked both determined and surprised at her own words "This...this...GODDAMMIT!"

The latina was so frustrated that she shook her head and ran a hand through her hair.

They looked at each other for a few seconds. Then Arizona grabbed a pen, leaned over the table, reached out, and wrote her phone number on Callie's arm.

"I think you already swept me off my feet. I know you have my number, but there it is again just in case. Maybe you could...call me and...uh...let me know when you want to go out for dinner. And then, maybe, you could make love to me"

Callie looked at the numbers on her arm, and then looked back at the doctor.

Arizona got up, grabbed her jacket, and gave Callie her signature double wink. It was sexy as hell.

"Until then we'll sleep apart"

With those words the blonde left.


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER 12**

It took Callie two days to call Arizona. Two days to get over whatever emotional crap she felt lay between them because of what they had experienced. Two days of cursing herself for being so scared. Two days of not sleeping very well. And two days of thinking about how wonderful Arizona was. And how brave.

When Arizona picked up, the blonde sounded out of breath.

"Callie?"

"Yes, hi, I..."

"Callie, I'm on my way into surgery. Can I...can you...can we talk later?"

"Yeah, sure" Callie said, but she wasn't sure Arizona heard it because all the latina heard was the beeping tone of Arizona having hung up on her.

"Dammit!" she said to herself. It had taken her so long to work up the courage to call, and now she would have to work it up all over again.

She called the doctor 5 hours later and got a groggy sounding Arizona on the line.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you sleeping?"

"Yeah, don't worry, I'm in an on call room. I should have called you back. I was just...so tired"

"I can call back later?" Callie almost whispered.

"No. Now is perfect, Callie"

Callie smiled into the phone, She could hear from Arizona's voice that the doctor was happy to hear from her.

"I...I was thinking if you would like to...uh...go out for dinner...with me...this weekend?" Callie stuttered. She cursed herself for not having practiced before calling.

There was a silence on the other end. It lasted a few seconds too long for Callie.

"I'd love to" then came Arizona's soft voice "I'd really, really love to"

"Great!" Callie breathed out "I can pick you up at 7 on Saturday?"

"Sounds great!"

There was another silence.

"How are you doing?" Callie asked. She was referring to them not sleeping together.

"I'm doing...okay. But I'm looking forward to sleeping with you again. See you Saturday, Calliope"

And then Arizona hung up.

Callie stared at her phone.

They were now going to go on a date. A date that could lead to sex.

The mere thought and the memory of Arizona's husky voice on the phone made Callie both nervous and aroused. She clenched her jaw and returned her focus to some paperwork that needed to be taken care of. She couldn't let go of the image of Arizona though. And Arizona's dimples.

Saturday came fast.

Callie stayed in the taxi for a while, gathering courage, before she went into Arizona's building to get the blonde.

She also hesitated when standing in front of the doctor's door. But when she finally knocked, and Arizona opened, she was rewarded with the most beautiful sight.

Arizona was wearing a blue strapless dress that stopped right below the knee. She had let her hair down, and her blue eyes twinkled in the light from the hall.

Callie stared. The blonde tilted her head and smiled at the latina.

Callie cleared her throat.

"You look really good" she mustered.

"Thank you, you too" the blonde said, looking the latina up and down.

She loved Callie's legs. Ever since she'd seen them in the club, they'd been her favorite thing to look at. And sleeping in the same bed as Callie for a few weeks had given her plenty of opportunities to appreciate the sight of Callie's God-like limbs.

Tonight Callie was wearing a short black dress that left very little to the imagination. She. Looked. Hot.

Arizona grabbed her purse, and then they left for the restaurant.

They had a good time and for the first time in a long time neither of them thought about what had happened to them. They felt carefree. And happy.

"We saved all of them. Isn't that amazing?" Arizona said with a big smile on her face. She'd just told Callie about her day. A bus full of German tourists had driven off the road and a lot of the passengers had gotten hurt badly and had ended up in the ER of Seattle Grace. None had died though which had been nothing short of a miracle. It had been a great day.

Callie simply stared at Arizona. She really, really enjoyed listening to Arizona talk about work. The blonde had a passion that was quite contagious.

"You're amazing" Callie croaked and took a sip of her wine to down the lump in her throat caused by a sudden rush of emotions.

"Hardly" Arizona said dryly and then she looked at Callie with serious eyes. She swallowed and bit her lip as to gather courage, and then she said "I'm sorry, Callie"

"For what?"

"For…for being so stubborn…for letting Sam Banner…It was all my fault…"

"Don't" Callie said with a stern voice "Don't, Arizona"

"But…"

"Arizona… It's was _not_ your fault. Don't ever think that!"

"I…"

"Please!"

Arizona didn't break eye contact with the latina. Callie's eyes were dark and serious and full of something Arizona couldn't quite put her finger on. Immense care? Love?

Then Arizona nodded, accepting that Callie was not having any of her apologizing.

And that was it. There would be no more discussing what happened. No more mentioning Sam Banner. Their capturers would take up no more time in their lives. The only thing left was testifying, and even that would be done on video, far away from the men that had held them locked up.

They were both silent for a while. And then Arizona said "I've been thinking about that place in Miami. The café with the tamales. And…I think we should go and see if it's still there" She paused "You and me. Together"

Callie looked at her and clenched her jaw. The woman sitting in front of her was making her seriously weak in the knees.

Then she nodded "That…that sounds like a really good idea"

It was an exchange of only two sentences and still it carried so much meaning. They both knew.

Two hours later, as they walked up to Arizona's apartment building Callie got suddenly nervous. Should she have just driven on in the taxi? What did Arizona expect? What was going to happen?

But her thoughts were pointless, because when they got closer to the front door of the building, the blonde grabbed her hand, and directed her into the building with her.

Arizona lit candles. They had a glass of wine on the couch. They moved closer to each other.

Callie initiated the kiss. She couldn't help it. Arizona's lips looked so very inviting. They felt good too.

Callie let her finger tips run up and down Arizona's arms and back, touching the blonde very softly. She loved how Arizona's skin reacted to her touch.

They kissed for a long time. It felt amazing but at the same time, Arizona couldn't help but think that they should be doing more than kissing.

"Callie...I...I need you..." she whispered huskily into Callie's ear.

Callie swallowed thickly. She was ready to selfcombust from want, but she was at a complete loss with how to approach being intimate with Arizona.

Usually she'd be in charge from the start, pushing whomever she was with up against a wall or down on a bed before ravishing them. She liked it that way. And she was good at it. Good a pleasure.

Arizona straddled her lap, leaned her head down and kissed Callie with so much want that it took Callie's breath away. She could feel Arizona moving her hips slightly, and it made the latina wish for more friction. Naked friction.

Arizona grabbed Callie's hands and placed them on the top of her buttocks, guiding Callie to how she wanted to be touched. She felt like Callie was holding back. The brunette was being almost painfully gentle with her, only moving her hands very slowly.

It made Arizona put a hand on either side of Callie's face and say "Callie, talk to me"

The latina looked her into the eyes for a few seconds.

"I…I don't know…"

"Please don't hold back with me" Arizona whispered and ghosted her lips across Callie's. She knew why Callie was being gentle. She understood. But she didn't need the Latina to be. She wanted them to start this with a clean slate. Without the memories of what had happened. Without worries.

Arizona swallowed thickly. She pulled up her dress so that it rested around her waist. Then she took Callie's hand and guided it down into her panties where Callie could feel the warm, slick heat of her arousal.

"Just take me, Calliope"

Arizona's words lit a fire in the latina. She blinked a couple of times, and then she pushed Arizona down on the couch without pulling her hand out of the blonde's panties. Gone were the trepidation and the fear. They had vanished into thin air with Arizona's surrender.

Arizona gasped from pleasant surprise and leaned her head back as she felt Callie moving her hand against her sex. It felt so good.

Then Callie stopped her movements for long enough to unzip Arizona's dress and pull it off. The blonde wasn't wearing a bra so all she was wearing was her soaked panties.

Callie let her eyes roam Arizona's body to take it all in. This was a completely different experience than being in the dirty factory showers together. What they were doing was only for them. And it wasn't full of pain.

Callie placed her hand on Arizona's chest for a second before she moved it to the blonde's cheek and leaned down to kiss her.

"Bedroom, Callie. I...I need to see you" Arizona whispered and they quickly moved into the other room.

They paused for a minute while standing next to the bed in front of each other. Callie was the first one to move. She unzipped her dress and let it fall to the floor, exposing tanned skin and black lace underwear.

Arizona swallowed, and then she took a step forward and placed a hand on Callie's breast. It did something to her. Alost frantically she moved both hands behind Callie and opened the bra so that she could see and feel the skin of the latina's breasts.

Callie's nipples hardened under her touch, and as they both got on the bed, there was no turning back for either of them.

Callie pulled off both her own and Arizona's underwear, leaned in over the blonde, and let her hand travel down between her legs to resume what she had been doing earlier.

Arizona's hand did the same and soon they were moving in sync, pleasuring each other.

Their high came fast. What pulled Callie over the edge was the way Arizona buried her face in the latina's hair and whimpered as she came.

In a way it felt completely new. But it also felt known. Like coming home.

It made Callie's heart explode into a million little pieces of love that drizzled down into her core.

She knew then that her fears had been inane.

She knew that Arizona was the one.


	13. Chapter 13

**EPILOGUE**

It was a hot day in Miami, and Callie couldn't help noticing the thin sheen of sweat on Arizona's shoulders. It reminded the latina of the hot sexy nights they had already shared in the Floridian city. It made her shiver with want and something she knew was love for the blonde who was now walking down Flagler Street in Little Havana in a tank top and some very short shorts.

They were on a hunt for the café Callie remembered from her childhood and Callie was bursting with happiness.

They had been together for a few months now and everything just felt right. And good.

"Whatcha thinking?" Arizona whispered into her ear while grabbing her hand.

"Uh...nothing" Callie responded "Just...everything looks so different here. So new"

"Do you know more or less where the café was on Flagler? This street is pretty long"

Callie looked around and squinted her eyes, trying to remember. She shook her head.

"That's okay" Arizona smiled "We'll keep walking till you recognize something"

They walked for another couple of minutes, and suddenly Callie stopped.

"There!" she gasped and pointed to the other side of the street. Arizona turned her head and saw what Callie was pointing at; a very small café with a dark red facade. The sign above the door read "Bruno's".

The two women smiled at each other and then Callie quickly pulled Arizona across the street.

They walked into the café, and Arizona noticed how Callie was taking everything in. The latina looked so surprised and very, very happy.

They ordered tamales, and Callie chatted with the owner who had gotten old since Callie had last been to the place.

Arizona enjoyed listening to Callie speaking Spanish, and she couldn't wait to taste the tamales. They had occupied a small space in her mind since Callie took her on a mind travel to Miami during their time in the factory. She felt like being here, sharing this re-connection with a distant memory with Callie, tied them even closer together than they were.

In the evening they drove to the beach and took a long walk. They didn't talk much. It was enough for them to hold hands and be close. They both felt amazing. Free. In love.

Arizona dipped her feet in the water, and splashed some on Callie which made the brunette run after her.

When Callie finally caught her, the latina pulled her down on the sand. She hovered over the blonde for a few seconds, and then gave her the softest kiss imaginable.

As she pulled back, Arizona saw an intensity in her eyes.

"I love you" Callie then whispered.

Arizona stared at the latina.

"You do?" she croaked.

Callie simply nodded, not breaking eye contact.

"I love you too"

 **THE END**

 **PLEASE WRITE A REVIEW :-)**

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